In October 2005, the Pueblo Chieftain’s managing editor, Steve Henson, authored a column where he referred to a persistent group of people — CAVE people (an acronym Mr. Henson defined as Citizens Against Virtually Everything) who seem to be opposed to any sort of progress or development in Pueblo County. At the time, the topics of the day were a proposed cement plant being built south of town, a Wal-Mart distribution center being proposed for Pueblo West, and a small casino on the Riverwalk similar to one we might now find in Cripple Creek. Yet, “No!” yelled the CAVE people, and again and again, our community suffered in terms of lost jobs and lost tax revenue. Colorado Springs and Denver, “You’re welcome.”
Now, here we are ten years later and the CAVE people are alive and well. This time, they are organizing under the name Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo and their goal is to return retail sales to the black market and completely eradicate the tax base that the legalized cannabis industry has brought to Pueblo. In their hearts, they probably believe that they are doing what is right. The problem is that really they aren’t using their minds and clearly have no idea what they are talking about basing their assertions on false correlations.
What these modern-day prohibitionists don’t fully understand is that prohibition has never worked (refer to Amendments 18 and 21 of the US Constitution as a prime example). Although no one can completely predict what the future will hold, we can make a pretty good guess what would happen if the prohibitionists get their way.
Loss of jobs. Conservative estimates indicate that there are at least 1300 men and women in Pueblo County directly employed by the retail marijuana industry. If Pueblo County is forced to revoke all retail licensing, the industry employing these people would cease to exist leaving the burden to the taxpayers of Pueblo County to pay unemployment when the industry disappears.
Loss of revenue. Taxes on retail cannabis are 17.4% plus the 15% state excise tax and 5% county excise tax (being phased in at 1% per year starting this year). Pueblo would give up approximately $3–5 million annually, forever. Even CAVE people like driving on roads without “pot” holes.
Degradation of public health. Retail marijuana growers and manufactures must test all of their products for contaminants, microbials, residual solvents, molds, yeasts, bacteria, homogeneity and potency. Currently, medical marijuana producers and stores have no testing requirements. None. Nada. If the Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo cared about “health” or “Pueblo”, this should give them pause.
The Ripple Effect. For every person who loses his or her job, dozens of others are indirectly affected and everyone in the community pays a price. When a county decides to increase its unemployment line by 1300 people, unemployment payments increase dramatically. Income taxes decrease. Forget for a moment the $3–5 million in lost sales and excise tax revenues to the county. Forget the commercial construction boom that we have been experiencing in Pueblo County since 2012 that has been fueled by the retail cannabis industry. The strong demand for commercial real estate in Pueblo County would reverse overnight. Back to the model of empty warehouses with no tenants. Fewer paychecks in the county means less money to be spent at other businesses. Budget cuts for county public health and safety services (fire department, sheriff, regional building). More people will struggle to pay their utilities. Landlords will have a more difficult time getting their rents from people who lost their jobs. If someone wanted to design a plan to increase homelessness and a burden on the county for the next decade, prohibition of Pueblo’s retail cannabis industry would be it. Nice job, CAVE people.
Return of a robust, local black market. The retail code not only brings in millions of dollars in tax revenue to our county (and helps prevent increases in our property taxes), but also allows for your mom or grandma to stop by a licensed retail store to get some cream for achy hands or a sore back. Having trouble sleeping? Stop by a retail store for cannabinol tablets (no, they won’t get you “high” but you’ll sleep like a baby). The average customer that comes to our store is between the ages of 40 and 50 years old and most have never tried cannabis, but they are seeking relief and usually finding it. Elimination of the retail market means forcing these people to look for these products for sale elsewhere. It doesn’t take much imagination where they might go to find it if they aren’t driving to Denver to spend their money. Prohibition would certainly not solve the black market problem, but only make it more robust and increase black market prices with a decrease in legalized supply. What we need is continued strong, consistent and deliberate enforcement of the laws by our Sheriff’s office, who by the way, is indirectly funded by taxes from the retail marijuana industry through Pueblo County’s General Fund.
Do we really want to create a black market for lotion and salve? Ask some CAVE people and see what they say. Their answers are usually entertaining, at best. I often remind them of a quote by Will Rodgers: “Things aren’t like they used to be, and probably never were.” Times have changes, and we must wait and allow attitudes and perspective to catch up. Eventually they will, but it will take time. We just can’t allow backward thinking to dominate this fall.
November 8th will be an historic election, for many reasons, but locally, it will be on the cannabis question.
Jim Parco, Ph.D., is a professor of economics and business. He was born and raised in Pueblo, Colo., and now owns Mesa Organics with his wife, Pam, out on the St. Charles Mesa in Pueblo County.
